Finnish born illustrator, Pietari Posti, now lives in Barcelona where he founded his own creative studio. Pietari’s work celebrates the beauty of the world through colourful, simple, clean lines and crisp, bold shapes. With a love of drawing waves, his illustration was inspired by the mystery and dynamism of the sea.

Q: What’s your background? How and when did you decide to become an illustrator?

I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember. Comics such as Asterix and Tintin were my first inspiration, but until I started to study graphic design I didn’t know anything about modern illustration. Throughout university I illustrated for magazines and newspapers to earn some extra money. After graduating, I then briefly worked as a graphic designer before moving to Barcelona. In Barcelona, I decided to concentrate on illustration and set up Studio Posti, a design studio specialising in illustration and image making.

Q: How did you develop your style?

It’s been evolving throughout my career. I started with line-based work influenced by comics, but over time my style has evolved to a more streamlined, cleaner look. Changing professional tools, such as moving from Photoshop to Adobe Illustrator has also had a huge impact on my style.

Q: Who are your artistic influences? What have you read or seen that has most influenced your work?

Comics have definitely been a huge influence. From early on, I admired comics like Tintin and Lucky Luke and cartoonist, Carl Barks. Whilst studying Graphic Design I read a lot of magazines and books which i took influence from. I read Idea, Eye Magazine and The Face and also looked to graphic designers such as Paul Rand, Saul Bass and Peter Saville for inspiration.

Q: Where do you get your motivation and ideas from?

Lots of things motivate me – whether it’s working for new brands, experimenting with different mediums or working with inspiring Art Directors. My ideas tend to pop up in the early stages of rough designs.

Definitely the sea. There’s something mysterious and beautiful about it that you have to respect and that can’t be tamed. There’s a reason that it has been featured in classic literature and art throughout history.

I love drawing waves so it was a brilliant opportunity to draw something almost graphic and pattern-like but also something figurative which tells a story.

Q: Tell us an interesting fact about your Lightly Sea Salted design

It was the first time I’ve designed food packaging which made this job really exciting for me.

Q: Sum up your Lightly Sea Salted illustration in 3 words.

Graphic, fun, story.

Q: What do you love most about PROPERCORN and your chosen flavour?

I love that PROPERCORN is a small, British business who are passionate about popcorn, as well as creativity and design. For me, simplicity is key, so good quality popcorn with a pinch of sea salt is the perfect combination for me.

Q: How many iterations did it take before you came up with your final design?

I think I started out with four or five different directions before choosing one and refining all the details.

Q: What do you do to overcome creative blocks?

Honestly, I just keep sketching as eventually you have to choose a direction in order to meet deadlines. The hardest part for me is starting – once you’ve got the first line on paper it tends to roll from there.

Q: What’s next for you?

I’ll continue to do client commissions, advertising, editorial and publishing jobs and would love to collaborate with PROPERCORN again in the future!